


The Constant

by Quirky_Lesbian_Pirate



Category: Black Sails
Genre: Angst, F/F, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-06
Updated: 2016-04-06
Packaged: 2018-05-31 16:51:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6478192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quirky_Lesbian_Pirate/pseuds/Quirky_Lesbian_Pirate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was such a rare thing, in one's life, to have a constant.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Constant

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by [academy_x](https://archiveofourown.org/users/academy_x/pseuds/academy_x) in the [pirate_prompts_2016](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/pirate_prompts_2016) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
> Max/Idelle 
> 
> anything with this pairing really but I would love a confrontation after Max learns Idelle is the spy or something where Max can't get herself to turn in Idelle (because she is in love) or Idelle having second thoughts and being filled with guilt at going behind Max' back

To have someone be a constant in your life was a rarity. Something so few were granted. To have someone who stood by your side, who asked nothing for it, someone to simply be a friend. Comfort you when you are injured, laugh with you when you feel joy, to experience your struggles, someone you can entrust, and adore...that is something so incredibly rare. So incredibly special. Something Max was stunned to have ever thought she’d found. Many might have thought she’d seen it in Eleanor, or Anne, few would suspect that it was Idelle she’d found it in all along. 

Idelle, who she had met so many years ago, was one of the first girls to show her any sort of kindness in the brothel. They were both so young at the time. It was so hard to look back, to think of how she used to be, even how Idelle used to be, of the way she viewed the world around her. The hope she had, the dreams that felt so squashed when entrapped in those brothel walls. The way that she, and Idelle, used to tell stories under the moonlight. 

To have to be hired by some of the most fearsome pirates in Nassau was a daunting job, something that brought many of the girls together, but Max and Idelle? Especially so. 

Idelle was Max’s friend when she had nothing to offer to her. She had no power, no money, nothing. But Idelle was still her friend. That was, indeed, the truest test of friendship. Idelle remained by her side as Max returned to the brothel, as she started to take over, become placed in a powerful position. Perhaps, Max wondered, she had gotten greedy. Or too comfortable. Had assumed that Idelle would always be there, be loyal by her side, be permanent in a spot beside her. 

Max was capable of predicting many things, but she never would have been able to predict the moment that Idelle betrayed her. Never would have imagined that empty feeling in her stomach, the way her mood had instantly turned dark. On the outside, her hand had only frozen for a mere moment, but on the inside she felt herself cracking. She was no fool, she knew immediately, once that piece of the puzzle had been rested before her feet, that it was the truth. No amount of denial would change the fact. She had been betrayed, and the wound was fresh in her back. 

Eleanor Guthrie had become her ally, her friend, they had made peace after a long stead of avoidance. But she knew Eleanor well, and she knew Idelle’s betrayal would not sit well with the woman, and that once the news was passed to Eleanor, Max would not have the means to protect Idelle. That once news got to Eleanor, Max’s own opinion would be seen as just such. Eleanor would not leave her to choose the path to take. 

Still, it was of great risk to keep the secret from Eleanor. Especially when, if Eleanor heard the news elsewhere, Max’s secrecy would also be seen as a betrayal in itself. To keep the news from Eleanor was to put her own being at risk. 

Yet she couldn’t bring herself to tell Eleanor the truth. Couldn’t bring herself to look into that face, and betray someone who had been her constant. Someone who had stood by her side for years. To do so would feel as though she ripped her own heart right out of her chest, and presented it to Eleanor to do what she wished with it. She wouldn’t do that. Not again. Not for her friendship with Eleanor, not even for her own safety. 

Still, she found herself faced with Idelle, in her office. She stood in front of her desk, and watched Idelle’s brow furrow with confusion as she quietly shut the door behind herself. Idelle was beautiful, that was a fact Max had always noticed, and that day was no different. The only sign of possible distress was when Max stared directly at her face, as she looked into tired eyes, and the bags that rested underneath them. No matter how tired Idelle had been before, she usually never looked it. She always looked pristine. But apparently her new betrayal weighed upon her. 

Max had a speech planned, something that she had worked on in her head since she discovered what Idelle had done. But as she stood across from her in that room, Idelle’s dark, thin brows knitted together, her lips slightly parted in start of sentence, Max could only manage to say, “I know.” 

Apparently that was all that needed to be said, because Idelle’s eyes shut tight, and she inhaled deeply, as though it was the last breath she would ever take. Her hand clenched at her other arm so tight that Max feared her nails would pierce the skin. “Shit.” 

Max met Idelle’s expression cooly, and Idelle kept her eyes closed, as though she was too afraid to open them. Max attempted to speak many times, but there was a lump in her throat she had to fight to get her words through, “It is Featherstone who is helping you, I presume?” 

“Fuck.” Apparently Idelle wasn’t yet capable of coherent thought, and when she opened her eyes to stare back at Max, Max felt her heart skip a beat. Idelle’s eyes were slightly watery, and she blinked quickly. “It had nothing to do with-.”

“It has  _ everything  _ to do with me,” Max snapped, but tried to keep her voice low, thus it came out almost as a snarl. “You went behind  _ my  _ back, used  _ my  _ girls, and have put  _ my  _ status here on the line. What part of that has nothing to do with me?” 

“The part where I wasn’t trying to go behind your back,” Idelle replied, voice pitched too loud, and Max gave her a look of warning. If they were heard… “The part where the fucking bitch, and the governor, would have had your old partner handed over to fucking  _ Spain,  _ had Charles Vane  _ hung-.”  _

“Charles Vane would have never been hung if it wasn’t for  _ your  _ actions,” Max reminded her, and Idelle looked away once again, down to the floorboards. “Since when is Charles Vane, or Jack Rackham, for that matter, such a worthy ally to you that you would betray-.”

Idelle rolled her eyes grandly. “Well I didn’t do it for  _ them,”  _ she said it as though it was the most foolish of concepts. 

“Then who is it you did it for?” Idelle opened her mouth, but no answer emerged from it. “Featherstone?” 

Idelle let out a bark of a laugh, and if Max weren’t so confused, perhaps she would have smiled. “Featherstone? Please.” She snorted, shook her head so that her long hair swayed. “You really think I’d betray the fucking  _ governor  _ for Featherstone?” 

“Then who-.”

“He lied about Rackham,” Idelle said suddenly, and Max forgot any response she would have made prior, because Idelle’s voice was very serious as she crossed her arms over her chest. “Said he would let him, and Anne Bonny, go as soon as he received the rest of Spain’s money. He didn’t. He fucked him over the second it was convenient-.” 

“You know nothing of what happened-.”

“What’s to say he wouldn’t do the same to you?” Max froze, because Idelle’s voice had a slight hitch in it, and Max could only manage to blink as Idelle stared at her head on. “The new Governor is, fucking shock, a prick. Eleanor Guthrie? Just hung her old lover in front of  _ everybody.  _ You really think either of them give a damn about you? Or that they won’t betray you the moment it becomes convenient to them?” 

“Like you did?” 

Idelle swallowed harshly, and shook her head. “That’s not what I did.” She squeezed her elbow, hard, and the nails did seem to sink in at that moment. Indented into the flesh. “I had to know for a fact if he could be trusted or not.” 

“Because you can’t trust me?” Max asked her. “You can not trust my judgement?”

“Jesus Christ - because you can’t trust  _ him!  _ You could never trust Eleanor Guthrie to begin with, and now you’ve brought Miss Mapleton back into the fucking brothel after everything.” Idelle looked at her, almost in horrified amazement. “The fuck are you even doing?” 

“Surviving,” Max replied. “Adapting. Building something. Not making an enemy out of England.” This was all...she did not know how she was supposed to handle it all. She had not prepared for this. “Which I am currently doing.”

“How-.”

“Because they do not know,” Max answered, and Idelle blinked multiple times in a row. “I have not told Eleanor, nor have I told the Governor, about what you have done.” Idelle frowned. “I have no intention of telling them what you have done.” 

Idelle was quiet for a few long moments, and Max could hear her heart as it pounded in her chest. Louder than any drum. “So...you  _ do not  _ trust the Governor, then?” Idelle cocked her head to the side. “You’re switching sides?” 

“I am doing no such thing,” Max said quickly, and Idelle just looked all the more lost. “I plan to stand by the Governor, stand by Eleanor Guthrie, no matter what it is they planned to do to Jack Rackham,” Max continued fiercely. “This? This is the best side to stand on. This is how we adapt. This is how we survive.” 

“Then why would you-.”

“Because I will not betray you to reach that point.” Idelle’s expression morphed. “That is one thing I am not capable of.” 

Idelle took a step towards her, Max still felt her body in lock, as though she couldn’t bring herself to move. Another step. More. Then suddenly she felt two soft hands cup either side of her face. The hands so much softer than Anne’s, who had callouses, covered in scars. Max had never minded, but these hands...they were so different. Gently, Idelle brought her closer, and Max allowed herself to move towards her, allowed herself to meet Idelle’s lips. To feel the softness. It wasn’t anything grand, they only met for a moment, and then pulled away once more. 

“I’m sorry,” Idelle said softly, her breath warm against Max’s face, one hand stroked her jaw with gentle fingers. “I never…” 

“Stay out of this,” Max pleaded with her. “All of it.” 

She wouldn’t betray Idelle. Idelle would stand by her side. Max couldn’t betray her.

Idelle was her constant. 


End file.
